peter51

New Member
Hello everybody. I live in Australia, and I am an active member of AULRO - Australian Landover’s owner’s forum.

I have an idea as a service to UK Landover enthusiasts that may become a small business when I retire in the future. But first I need to get some idea of who may be interested in the following concept.

I know there is a fair bid of sporting argy bargy between our two countries, so keep the feedback clean please.
I spent 5 years in Saudi Arabia working with British Aerospace, and I have been at the receiving end of many jibes regarding antipodean virtues before. However thank goodness the Queen decided to send Captain Cook and then the First fleet here slightly ahead of the French‼!

I am a mad keen Landover enthusiast with vehicles near Brisbane and in the far north in Cairns.
Like most of you, I have bought, sold and maintained by myself, many Landrovers including all Discos, classic RR and the P38.

My sons and I regularly disappear into the wilds of Australia whenever we can.

Around the campfire admiring an outback sunset, I wondered how difficult it might be for Landrover enthusiasts from the UK who were thinking of coming to Australia to also experience the outback in a Landrover as conveniently as we do.

The problem is getting the right vehicle and advice before arriving here.
The distance is the next problem.

If you are on limited time then you would rent a Land cruiser from Cairns for about £105 per day plus £1055 insurance excess if you hit a kangaroo, wild pig, tree, drown it in a river crossing etc. Also the roads you can travel on are restrictive i.e. you cannot do the old telegraph track which is a benchmark in off-road tracks.
To give you an idea of distance - Brisbane to Cairns is 1000miles and from Cairns to the tip of Australia is 1100 miles return - 95% dirt road and min 10 days return over slow rough roads. Side trips to say Cape Melville bring average speeds to 10 km/hr. See youtube for videos of trips to Cape York.
For those you have toyed with the idea of travelling here to experience the wild areas of Australia, I was wondering how many of you might be interested in having someone find the right vehicle for them prior to flying down under
By buying a Landrover outright from say Cairns, you could be in the wilds of Cape York or the Gulf of Carpentaria within 5 hours of landing in Cairns. Top end travel would be in the dry season only from early June. Rest of Australia would be anytime.

The main problem is finding a good Landy from private sellers and not junk on eBay etc - vetted for good drive train and cooling systems, air-conditioning etc. - well maintained by previous owners.

You specify the Landrover type and budget. I find the car. Here is the commercial bit - You pay for it plus registration (min 6months about £300) and of course negotiated fee to facilitate the whole process.

Except for Defenders, Discos are pretty cheap here, but there are plenty of poorly maintained ones amongst them. - so, I could find you a basic reliable D1 V8 for about £1500 or a TDI for about £2500 I would recommend a new radiator, water pump, hoses fitted prior to the trip - I would give you a report on recommended parts if need be. You could bring some spares with you as the prices are far cheaper in the UK.


A fully kitted expedition, drive over or through anything TDi with two ARB lockers, snorkel, mud tyres , 2 inch lift etc etc can be bought every now and then for 5500pound registered.

When it is time to go home, I guarantee to buy it back from you for resale, or to pass onto the next chap. The price would be negotiated depending on how much damage it has sustained – simple!

So to all on this forum – who would be interested?


 
BTW – the service will come with all the information on how to camp comfortably with the minimum equipment, GPS track guides, advice on the best camping areas, how to get permits to enter and traverse aboriginal lands, how to travel safely, how to avoid getting eaten by crocodiles or stung or bitten by other nefarious creatures, and specific off-road driving techniques particular to the area including beach driving and training in water crossings if required – in 2013 at least 30 vehicles were drowned in river crossings in the Cape.
 
Incoming!!!!!

I hope you've got a thick skin. ;)

Ive read the Aluro site a few times, some good info there. Im not sure if you've read landyzone before but it isn't your 'usual' enthusiasts site. :D

More a bunch of inmates with crayons and a bad temper. :lol:

You might want to check out the "introduce yourself" section fort before you start touting for business. ;)

Just some friendly words of advice.

Good luck with your venture though, i have a sister who lives in Toowoomba and I've been so depressed about driving around in a land cruiser every time i go and see her. Your idea is something that i could perhaps use.
 
Im living in NSW currently and bought my own when I gorlt here, a lovely 1996 v8 disco for 1700 so it can be done, registration and the lark is a pain though and partsa and labpur are stupid expencive so its good to get a good one outright :)

Sounds like a good deal to me :) ill drop you a line when im heading for the cape :)
 
Will you be including a satphone as well, as a "novice" coming to Oz and trying to take a 4x4 on their own into the bush is asking for trouble ! The distances alone will be a hell of a shock for a start . The existing rental companies have a lot of restrictions on usage for a reason , as they have learnt the hardway the problems that can arise . For a first time visitor a road limited camper is about as far as they should venture . JMHO &E
 
Hmmmm nice idea. However I have been stung by 'Buy back pricing' when in Cyprus on tour. Bought an 8yr old disco for £7500, sell back offer 3 years later £2500!!! I opted to container it back and drive it here for another 5 years!
 
Im living in NSW currently and bought my own when I gorlt here, a lovely 1996 v8 disco for 1700 so it can be done, registration and the lark is a pain though and partsa and labpur are stupid expencive so its good to get a good one outright :)

Sounds like a good deal to me :) ill drop you a line when im heading for the cape :)

How'd ya get out there?
 
Ginge - What you say is valid, however I'd rather be upfront straight away. I finished my last two years of high school in Toowoomba - its a small world.

tacr2man - sure,take a sat phone if you are concerned, however it would be better to travel with a companion. If you were injured then rescue would be far quicker by driving out to, or towards help,rather than waiting for authorities to drive to you.There are plenty of other travellers out there by the way - all keen to help out.There are also " ferals" as we call them.

Skynet - it won't be expensive. This idea is only for Landrover enthusiasts who know how to use a spanner and are familiar with the vehicles. The car will be functional and roadworthy. It may have faded paint, a few scratches - but I'm aiming for those " well serviced"cars that come on market every couple of months. V8's wont cost much at all. The fuel to the Cape and back would cost -(@20l/100km worst fuel consumption) 400 litres @ £1.10 per litre.
My TDI however does 12 -13 litres/100 km on those secondary roads and tracks. Over 2000km you use only 260 litres. A v8 would cost £1000 less that a TDi to buy and would be far more fun.

Regarding resale - probably a reasonable fixed changeover to allow for a complete gearbox, axles,engine oil changes etc Of course, as with any car,there could always be a black swan event such as a transmission failure. Because you own the car, it will be up to you what you want to do about it. In my proposal, I definitely won't be riding to the rescue

You will be in the same situation as all the backpackers who come out here, buy an old Ford wagon(condition unknown) and drive around Australia. You see a lot of them on the side of the road with bonnets up and steam pouring out, because they don't know how to check a car out.

Or, you could keep the car and stay here - you'd be welcome.
 
maybe it is a bit more crowded out your side, In WA its a lot less so , thats why I made the comment I did, trying to drive out with injured , might take a while . Assisting a novice to go into outback with a 4x4 is not the best idea , you need to know a few things , even things like signs of becoming dehydrated, which is not knowledge that non antipodeans know about . There are enough Aussies getting themselves into strife in the bush from my experience , without adding to it . JMHO
 
Will you be including a satphone as well, as a "novice" coming to Oz and trying to take a 4x4 on their own into the bush is asking for trouble ! The distances alone will be a hell of a shock for a start . The existing rental companies have a lot of restrictions on usage for a reason , as they have learnt the hardway the problems that can arise . For a first time visitor a road limited camper is about as far as they should venture . JMHO &E

agree, also land rover parts are hard to come by out in the bush. you have to get them from Sydney and end up paying 3 fold what you would in the UK. A 200ti engine from a fender used will cost you about $6000-8000 in average condition.

No serious aussies would ever hit the bush in a land rover now. when you get get a land cruiser, which is much better suited, cheaper and 10x more reliable, oh and you can get parts for them anywhere!

I have had a ford now and I was looking at buying a landy, but every farmer I have spoken to says absolutely not! Tomorrow I am making a 1000km journey up north, I can trust that I will have a comfy, not in a land rover.

I can imagine every other one you 'sell' coming off a corner on a dirt track.
 
agree, also land rover parts are hard to come by out in the bush. you have to get them from Sydney and end up paying 3 fold what you would in the UK. A 200ti engine from a fender used will cost you about $6000-8000 in average condition.

No serious aussies would ever hit the bush in a land rover now. when you get get a land cruiser, which is much better suited, cheaper and 10x more reliable, oh and you can get parts for them anywhere!

I have had a ford now and I was looking at buying a landy, but every farmer I have spoken to says absolutely not! Tomorrow I am making a 1000km journey up north, I can trust that I will have a comfy, not in a land rover.

I can imagine every other one you 'sell' coming off a corner on a dirt track.

Things have changed a lot since I was there then , as i used to go out and recover vehicles , and that included a fair few toyotas , couldnt use a toyota to tow them in had a landrover 130 DC HCPU the toyotas didnt have a high enough train weight .
4x4 parts in Oz are expensive , how much of that is due the Ozzie "youre only likely to see them once , so make your money while you can " attitude?

On bush roads I found Landrovers with coils were better than toyota , or Nissan come to that especially at speed on corrugations . Do you recall Toyota having to lower the ride height , aftera few of them "fell over" >
 
agree, also land rover parts are hard to come by out in the bush. you have to get them from Sydney and end up paying 3 fold what you would in the UK. A 200ti engine from a fender used will cost you about $6000-8000 in average condition.

No serious aussies would ever hit the bush in a land rover now. when you get get a land cruiser, which is much better suited, cheaper and 10x more reliable, oh and you can get parts for them anywhere!

I have had a ford now and I was looking at buying a landy, but every farmer I have spoken to says absolutely not! Tomorrow I am making a 1000km journey up north, I can trust that I will have a comfy, not in a land rover.

I can imagine every other one you 'sell' coming off a corner on a dirt track.

Yep I had to get a garage to replace the rocker cover gaskets and a door lock for RWC and with labour came to $960 :eek:
 

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